He had a number of people call him and say that the bill had been changed at the last minute to force him to sell’

Josh Hawley is brushing off President Donald Trump’s quip that he’s a “second-tier” senator. The criticism came after the Missouri Republican’s proposal to ban stock trading by members of Congress — and the president and vice president — won bipartisan approval to advance in a committee vote.

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley on Thursday dismissed a dustup with President Donald Trump over a stock trading bill to a misunderstanding, saying he’d spoken with the president in the hours after he dressed him down as a “second-tier senator” and the pair had a good conversation.